Writing Technical Reports Yrd. Doç. Dr. Mehmet Öztürk E-posta: mehmetozturk@ktu.edu.tr

6 Style 6.1 Aim to inform Scientific or technical writing differs from literary writing in a number of ways. Primarily, the aim of technical writing is to inform rather than to entertain. Hence, the style of writing adopted is generally simple and concise. An example of a literary sentence might read as: “The wind was blowing fiercely and the air outside was getting cooler.” A scientific/technical sentence would probably read as: “The wind velocity was 45 kph which reduced the air temperature to 15°C.” Since the primary aim of the report writer is to inform, emotive language should be avoided. You should try to convey information as objectively as possible.

6 Style 6.2 Be concise Avoid long sentences. Sentences with four or more clauses (or parts) can be confusing to the reader. Your text will often read better if you consider making two shorter sentences rather than one long sentence. If you need to include some qualification or an example then a long sentence might be acceptable. Endeavour to write for your intended audience. If the report is for your supervisor or a colleague then the use of jargon may be both appropriate and expected. If, however, you are writing a report for a more general audience, jargon should be avoided with simple, clear descriptions used instead.

6 Style 6.3 First person or third person? The strong preference is to use the third person when writing a technical report (that is to use he, she, they, them, it). This creates a distance between you and the reader, but perhaps more importantly it creates a formal and objective tone. Unlike other forms of writing, rather than expressing personal opinion, reports should focus on conveying factual information that is backed up by data, analysis, modelling or reference to other publications. Whenever possible, avoid speaking directly to your audience (you, your) or referring directly to yourself (I, me, we, us, our).

6 Style 6.3 First person or third person? Awkward sentence structure can arise when you write about actions and events without referring directly to who was involved. In such cases choose the sentence structure that gives the most clarity and conciseness. For example consider the following three sentences: “It was observed that the deviation was large.” (passive, person unknown) “A large deviation was observed.” “I observed a large deviation.” (active, first person) The first sentence is ambiguous and wordy. The second sentence is concise but who observed the deviation? In the third sentence it is clear who did. If it is important for the reader to know that you or your project team members performed some task or hold a particular opinion, then use the first person in an active clause.

6 Style 6.4 Abbreviations and acronyms Abbreviations and acronyms are frequently used in engineering. Abbreviations are pronounced as letters, for example CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation). Whereas acronyms are often pronounced as words, for example laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation). When an abbreviation is used for the first time in a report, the full name is provided followed by in brackets the abbreviation. Subsequently only the abbreviation is used. When using abbreviations, do not use punctuation marks. An example of the use of an abbreviation is illustrated in the following sentence. “The Karadeniz Technical University (KTU) is situated on Kalkınma neighborhood, Trabzon. The best way to travel to KTU is by public transport.”

Understanding when and how to use punctuation helps you Express ideas clearly. Some examples of correct use of punctuation marks are given in the table below. 6 Style 6.5 Punctuation

7 Referencing 7.1 When should I reference material? Whenever information is used in a report that was obtained by a student either directly or indirectly from a textbook, conference paper, report or any other source then details of the source of that information must be provided in the report. This requirement encompasses all types of information whether it be a direct quotation, paraphrased or summarized information; a sketch, plan or other illustration; and, numerical data or tables.

7 Referencing 7.2 Plagiarism - why reference at all? Referencing is a means of acknowledging other people’s ideas, information and work. If you fail to adequately provide details of the source then you may be accused of plagiarism which is a form of academic misconduct that can result in severe consequences for the student. One important benefit of referencing to the student is that it indicates “you have done your research.” This can be very important in assignments when you have been asked to demonstrate that you have discovered and read information relevant to the topic. Referencing the work of others is part of good academic behavior. Each university has an expected level of student behavior which in the case of plagiarism is usually defined in a policy statement.

7 Referencing 7.3 How do I include a reference in a report? The method of referencing commonly used in science and engineering publications is based on the IEEE referencing system. As with many referencing systems, there are two parts. The first part provides for an in-text citation placed next to where the information is contained in the main body of the report. When referring to a reference in the text of the report, put the number of the reference in square brackets. For example: The outcome of image segmentation very much relies upon precision of feature measurement [2].